I have recently been working on a design for cupholders for our cars and am ready to start selling these now through Etsy/Instagram/Facebook but was thinking about perhaps giving a discount to members here. 

Custom designs will be welcomed, but would attract extra fees, depending on your specification. As these things go, I have ended up taking an early order from someone before making my own (which I intended to mount my Racelogic into, in place of USB feeds). This person asked for the Z logo in white inside the cup. This example also includes USB A & C charging and a USB 3.0 passthrough, which will provide a nice outlet for any aftermarket headunits with their own USB feed for Android Auto/Apple Car Play/etc. 

 

 

The part is 3D printed using ASA material, for those who don't know, this material has a very high softening temperature and excellent UV resistance. I have seen other cupholders for other cars and one recently for our own that are created in PETG. This material will deform on a hot day in the sun, especially in the green house T-Tops. The other listing I saw even recommended you take it out of the car each time you leave it outside?! Other materials, like ABS, have high temperature thresholds but poor UV resistance and will fade, yellow and become brittle. ASA is difficult to perfect and requires a heat chamber and a very dialled in setup, not to mention a greatly increased material cost. I am the only person producing these in ASA and with the nice fitment you see here.

Fitment is excellent, as this was originally designed for my own car and it screws in using the factory mounting holes and screws which hold the ashtray piece in place (another I saw just sits in the console hole with no mounting). Naturally, 3D prints have a texture to their finish. I personally find it fits in better with this left in place but ASA takes very well to sanding if you wanted to smooth the surface and paint, etc. You will also find the surface feels much smoother as-is in when in the hand than the pictures may suggest.

The base price for now (might change later) will be £60 + shipping but I would provide a 10% discount to forum members. This price would include USB C & A Charger and a basic cup but no logo, text, design, etc. The pictures above are just an example. As mentioned, custom requests are welcome.

......Also, would appreciate a follow on whatever your social media flavour is! You can find those here:

autotun3D (@autotun3d) • Instagram photos and videos

Autotun3D | Facebook

 

Let me know if you are interested in a cup holder of your own here!

Edited February 15, 20232 yr by Peage

Very interested. I'm sure you're aware of the another 3d printer in the US who makes a very similar product for our cars. I was about to place an order imminently!

Do you have a price list for options? As you mention logo etc aren't included in the base price.

2 minutes ago, sumshiftyguy said:

Very interested. I'm sure you're aware of the another 3d printer in the US who makes a very similar product for our cars. I was about to place an order imminently!

Do you have a price list for options? As you mention logo etc aren't included in the base price.

Yes I have seen theirs since looking to make my own. Just a word on that - I won't do transparent options with light up parts they do as that doesn't exist in ASA material. They will be printing in PETG or ABS, which has the issues I mentioned in the first post. 

To be honest I don't have a price list as yet, could you DM me and we can talk about what you'd like? 🙂

As an aside, do you happen to know what they charge? I'm sure I remember hearing figures all over $100 before for their basic on but maybe I'm misremembering. 

10 minutes ago, Peage said:

Yes I have seen theirs since looking to make my own. Just a word on that - I won't do transparent options with light up parts they do as that doesn't exist in ASA material. They will be printing in PETG or ABS, which has the issues I mentioned in the first post. 

To be honest I don't have a price list as yet, could you DM me and we can talk about what you'd like? 🙂

As an aside, do you happen to know what they charge? I'm sure I remember hearing figures all over $100 before for their basic on but maybe I'm misremembering. 

 

I wasn't looking for light up bits so you're fine there! I'll DM you for more info. I had just gathered all the info from them and had a brief message back and forth with the intention of thinking through what I want and placing an order. Happy to share the info I got from them.

I would be interested in one with the white zed logo, especially to support a fellow forum member

5 hours ago, TheRealNips said:

I would be interested in one with the white zed logo, especially to support a fellow forum member

Thank you! I can also do a red Z, if you prefer? 

I will send over a PM now to discuss further 🙂

I’m interested in this for sure. Will PM you later 👍🏽. Great to see a club member making bits like this. 
 

3 hours ago, Raja93 said:

I’m interested in this for sure. Will PM you later 👍🏽. Great to see a club member making bits like this. 
 

Thanks Raja. Look forward to chatting with you about what you'd like.

Later plans are to make some other more reproduction bits and bobs for our cars along with any custom requests. I have my eye on rear end caps for the window moldings. I recently picked up a Kuruma set and noticed they don't seem to come with a rear end cap and I don't think the standard end cap is removable/swappable.

I confess I haven't removed my standard ones from the car yet though for a good look. Too many other jobs up front to handle before that!

Hi, can you make the finished texture more like the rest of the centre console?

Cheers Peter 

Also, these should be straightforward?

2 hours ago, A 2X OK said:

Hi, can you make the finished texture more like the rest of the centre console?

Cheers Peter 

Unfortunately not. There are methods used in dash repair where people apply high build primers and then imprint a patch of leather into it but that is not something I will be offering, nor have I tried it personally. The results are hit and miss so not something I'd want to offer to a paying customer but nothing to stop someone trying that themselves. 3D printing itself won't allow for a good looking recreation of the imprint.

I will be offering a smooth top version though. Will be updating the post with pictures of that shortly.

Regarding the headlight washer - that kind of shape would actually be quite difficult to exactly replicate and would require alot of time 3D modelling, prototyping and comparing to get an exact match. There are alot of varying radius curves there, etc. If something which effectively looks the same will do, and someone is replacing both at the same time so they match, that's a bit more straight forward. Hand finishing would also then be required for the smooth exterior surface. 

 

Edited February 17, 20232 yr by Peage

6 hours ago, Peage said:

Thanks Raja. Look forward to chatting with you about what you'd like.

Later plans are to make some other more reproduction bits and bobs for our cars along with any custom requests. I have my eye on rear end caps for the window moldings. I recently picked up a Kuruma set and noticed they don't seem to come with a rear end cap and I don't think the standard end cap is removable/swappable.

I confess I haven't removed my standard ones from the car yet though for a good look. Too many other jobs up front to handle before that!

PM sent 👍🏽. Yes you’re right about the Kuruma Z rear quarter trims - I bought a set but my bodyshop said my original ones would be fine after getting some loving, so I ended up selling them. I don’t think you can just remove the OEM end caps. If you manage to make these, that would make the Kuruma set the perfect replacement, so well worth doing.

On another note, I always wanted a red steering wheel emblem but when I went to buy one, they were discontinued. Would be great if you could start making them too! 

Your version looks quite cool! 

I like the additional USB port to act as an individual feed for CarPlay/Auto too. Would be interested in one of these similar to the one posted, although without the Z logo 🙂

Plus one for the window moulding caps too

Raja - Replied 😊 and I'm keeping notes on the requests for other piece too ha.

11 hours ago, mister_fcx said:

Your version looks quite cool! 

I like the additional USB port to act as an individual feed for CarPlay/Auto too. Would be interested in one of these similar to the one posted, although without the Z logo 🙂

Plus one for the window moulding caps too

I'll send you over a PM! 😊

@Peage I'm interested too mate but still debating about logo colour and other options. 

43 minutes ago, Aff68 said:

@Peage I'm interested too mate but still debating about logo colour and other options. 

Not a problem I appreciate the interest, take your time. 

I'm planning to premake some different cup options for people to see. Likely, 300ZX logo in a colour option and the 90's Nismo logo too.

I can also do custom text or logos in the cup or incorporating boost controllers and the like where the USBs are.

Basically - happy to discuss any idea people have.

Bit of an update, I have now just gone live with the storefront and will PM the address to those I am speaking with, for those of you who were asking for pricing options, this should cover most of them. Custom options outside of those on the storefront are of course still available, just send me a message to discuss those. Before anyone from the forum goes ahead and orders, please let me know via message first, I will generate a unique promo code for you to use at checkout to get the 10% forum member discount.

And for those looking for an update on the smoothed top finish, please see the images below. Note, I am describing this as a brushed smooth finish, not a mirror finish. There is a vertical brushed look to the top. As you will know from other smooth plastics, this option is going to more readily show surface scratches over time that the textured finish would hide. Please keep this in mind when making your selection. 

 

Just another quick little update to say that I have added the third pre-selectable cup logo option, which is the 90's Nismo logo. Just wanted to add too, custom logos or text (for now) can be requested at the same cost as one of the 3 pre-made options. 

Edited February 23, 20232 yr by Peage

I like how clean these look.  Nice work.  As a suggestion, couldnt these be wrapped in something that closely resembles the oem plastic?

23 hours ago, bird said:

I like how clean these look.  Nice work.  As a suggestion, couldnt these be wrapped in something that closely resembles the oem plastic?

I have been looking into that, trying to find a charcoal leather effect wrap but the greys all seem way off sadly. The hunt will continue on that front and I may just try a black one too.

My only concern would be durability really. Wraps have a stated lifetime of upto 5 years generally, which doesn't really align with my ethos of making these of material to last. Perhaps this could be extended with a clear coat over the wrap. 

 

Good shout on the final part.  Im sure someone on here found something really close one time

Just wanted to add, we now have stock of white illuminated chargers, more in-keeping with the standard dash clock, A/C controls, etc. 

Finally finished rehousing the Racelogic traction controller into our cup holder - this one was a nice challenge repackaging everything - the standard controller is much wider and deeper than the cup holder!

Just wanted to remind everyone - if you wanted something even more custom like this just get in touch. 

Edited March 13, 20232 yr by Peage

That looks lovely!

What he said ^^^ 

Very well designed that. 

Yeah that looks really good